"cheating"

So I was reading on prior posts that people don’t log their “cheating” days. But my thoughts are... Is this not deceiving anyone but you? I also have days I go above and beyond my “goal” for the day…. But if I don’t log everything I consume for the day… aren’t I just deceiving myself? How can I possibly track & acknowledge what I’ve done, if I don’t admit it to myself? I’m stating fat because of me & my choices… & I can’t hide it from myself or anyone else!

^^^ This.

Absolutely correct. Shakespeare said it best: "to thine own self be true". Cheating isn't bad. I prefer to call it treating rather than cheating. Rewarding yourself for a job well done isn't cheating. Taking time to enjoy what you've accomplished is important. Losing weight, this journey we are on, isn't some sort of cosmic punishment from which we never recover, like Sysiphus. But knowledge is power and knowing how much you treated yourself is important too. So I agree with everything you said.

I personally never, ever use the world CHEAT.
I think it goes back to the all or nothing mentality. If you eat too much one day, call it a slip up and move on. CHEAT is such a negative word. I also never call a food BAD, or say I AM BAD because I am NOT bad if I overeat. Any food in moderation won't kill you.
There will be days/meals you will eat more than others. If you call yourself bad or say you're a cheater, then the negative semantics will just beat you down.

"What you eat in private shows in public" is how the saying goes I think.

Exactly.

I log everything, helps me learn about food and make good decisions. Keeps me accountable and it helps to know how much one cookie is (for example). I don't actually have whole cheat "days", because that is asking for trouble in my opinion. If I know I'll be eating out I will plan as well as I can around it. Same thing if there's a holiday or a family get-together that includes major eating... I'll plan, adjust, exercise, eat well around that period of time... and hey, I'm still going to make good decisions with cheat meals!

Unless I really don't have access to MFP, sometimes I still try to write everything down, than I'm logging! Sounds like you're on a good track and mindset, so good job!

I personally never, ever use the world CHEAT.
I think it goes back to the all or nothing mentality. If you eat too much one day, call it a slip up and move on. CHEAT is such a negative word. I also never call a food BAD, or say I AM BAD because I am NOT bad if I overeat. Any food in moderation won't kill you.
There will be days/meals you will eat more than others. If you call yourself bad or say you're a cheater, then the negative semantics will just beat you down.

This!
I record everything. I totally overate this weekend. I was surprised by a seafood buffet, and didn't have my phone with me. Now I am smarter because I was shocked by the calories in some of the foods that I ate. Yikes! but one doesn't grow if one doesn't make mistakes! RECORD EVERYTHING!!!! AND YOU WILL SUCCEED!

We had a family BBQ on the 4th and everything was homemade, so for that day I logged nothing. I am horrible at guesstimating and need to pre plan and weight everything. So for that day I just relaxed. Its a rare occurrence for me, I try to log every bite.
If I do "cheat", I try not to make it a whole day thing, just one meal then punish myself in the gym later

I just had a revelation about this today myself. I'm not the kind of person who can have one slice of pizza and fill up on salad to have a perfectly balanced 500 calorie meal. I'm the kind of person who will eat half of the pizza and lament not ordering breadsticks.

I used to never track those days. I'd call them failures (and me a failure), which associated foods I loved with negative feelings and generally made me miserable. Sometimes it would lead into the mentality of "oh well, I already effed today up, might as well have this delicious sundae and cookies and cookie-sundae", despite knowing logically that's stupid.

So last night I ate half a pizza, and tracked it. And I was only 600 calories over for the day. SUPER easy to make up for 600 calories - one extra workout and skip a snack or two and I'm right back on track. If I hadn't tracked, I wouldn't know how much I had to make up, or more than likely I just wouldn't bother. And now I'm not beating myself up for "binging", because I have a solid plan to overcome it.

Knowledge is power, and this is a numbers game. Track your noms.

I don't need to log my food on here to know that I've eaten it...so it's not like I'm lying to myself or something.

It's all about personal preference, you'll do better on here if you do what works for you and not worry about what everyone else is doing!

I believe there is no such thing as cheating. Its all about choosing. I may choose to eat more than my allotment one day, or even two, but hey, I just plan and make up for it the next days. OR I just say enough and get right back on track. The price is paid at the weigh in... whether I lose not so much or not at all or even gain - Its called personal accountability. Whether I log it or not, an accounting of my choices show up at the weigh in.
This log is for ME and no one else. It is a tool to help me get to my goal. There is no judgment here. I have learned to be OK with whatever choices I make. As Popeye said, "I yam what I yam," and its all good. I just promote or delay my ultimate goal based on my choices. Doesn't make me bad. Just is. :-)

It's not cheating if you're in an open relationship. If you are truly monogamous with your food, bravo. For the rest of us who slip up, wander, or are prone to sniffing around where we don't belong (I'm looking at you, coffee creamer aisle), we accept the good with the bad and try to take it all in stride. If a minor (or major) fall to temptation ruins our relationship, it was never really meant to be.